Madness and Magic...❤️

19

"The brain in love is flooded with dopamine, giving lovers intense energy, focused attention, and exquisite delight in the smallest details of this budding relationship."Sidharth highlighted these lines with a rainbow colored highlighter,as he sat at his desk, absorbed in the book "Why We Love" by Dr. Helen Fisher.

He then stared at the rainbow highlighter in his hand, "What's the point of all this, really?"he questioned, It seemed silly to him, but he knew girls liked such things. Shaking his head, he put it down and returned to his book.

Recently, he had restocked his stationery drawer at home with every kind of highlighter and sketch pen imaginable as one evening the thought crossed his mind that "What if she asks for different highlighters again?" To be prepared, he had even ordered a pack of six rainbow-colored ones and brought one to the office, just in case.

"Sir, the meeting with the board of directors is about to start." Sidharth's assistant, Amit,said entering his office.

Sidharth quickly closed the book, hiding it in a drawer and nodded.

"Alright, Amit. Let's go." He said.
It was already Friday, and the week had flown by as he was swamped in deadlines, and endless meetings. Sidharth tried to balance his responsibilities as the heir to the family business with his passion project in the electric vehicle sector. Amidst all this, he found himself diving into a book about love, a concept he had always considered somewhat bookish.

Along with all this and despite the near silence from Shehnaaz, he did miss her.... not missed her like a lovesick man but thought of her during meetings,while driving, sitting on the toilet seat, scrolling through his LinkedIn feed, eating,during the rest time between sets of exercises and
even during his late-night trips to the bathroom. In short, she was always there in his subconscious.

Sidharth hadn't called her because every time he thought about it, his inner voice screamed, "Achi lagti hai theek hai, but kisike peeche padne ke stage main thodi hoon" Yet, each night, without fail, he sent her a message asking about her day.

On the other hand, Shehnaaz was engrossed in her college work and the upcoming fundraiser that demanded her time and energy. She stayed in constant contact with the Slum residents, urging them to complete the garment embroidery and other handcrafted products. She, too, often thought about him but tried her level best to stand firm on her decision but his messages at the end of the day had undoubtedly became the highlight of her day.

His longing for her had settled into habit now.He was in the backseat of his car and his driver was at the wheel, as he resumed reading "Why We Love." He had just started highlighting a interesting passage when his phone buzzed with a reminder from Mr Saini about the family dinner he had committed to.

"Sir, kaunsa gaana play karun?" the driver asked at that time.

"Play whatever you feel like," Sidharth replied. As the song began, he realized it was an old Hindi tune with hideous music.His first instinct was to ask the driver to change the track, but instead, he opted to put on his noise-canceling earphones and listen to some jazz. He hated unnecessary human interactions, and this was far better than engaging in pointless communication anyways he had a dinner to attend where he knew he would have to talk a lot but still he was looking forward to it as he knew she would be there.

He immersed himself back into the book when his phone rang again. It was Shehnaaz's father again

"Sure, sir, I will be there," he said after a brief conversation.

"Aur bataiye, hum aapke liye kya kar sakte hain special... kya pasand karenge aap?" her father asked. The word pasand suddenly reminded him of Shehnaaz." focus moron,stop going back to her everytime" he told himself.